Country Diary: whooping Guns, pricked birds and why shooting manners still matter

There was a time, not so very long ago, when shooting etiquette was considered almost as important as knowing which end of the gun was which.

With the game season now firmly upon us, I sometimes wonder whether a few of the old sporting manners have been accidentally left in the gun room alongside the moth-eaten tweeds.

Take whooping and cheering when you’ve shot something. I have nothing against enthusiasm. Indeed, we have all occasionally experienced an explosion of achievement and excitement when a difficult bird has finally succumbed to a well-timed shot. But there is a difference between quietly enjoying a good sporting moment and celebrating as though you have just scored the winning goal at a Sunday league football match. The bird, after all, has not just been promoted to the afterlife so that you can audition for The Voice.

Traditionally, there was something rather appealing about the restrained reaction to a good shot. A nod. Perhaps a quiet “good bird”. A handshake from the neighbouring Gun. Then everyone got on with the day.

It wasn’t miserable. It was respectful. And respect, surely, is at the heart of shooting etiquette.

The scorecard at elevenses

Unfortunately, it is becoming far too ‘normal’ to be preoccupied with how many a Gun has shot rather than the quality of what they have shot. The conversation at elevenses can become less about the quality of the sport and more about comparing numbers, as though everyone has been handed a scorecard. There is a danger in that.

Once the number becomes the objective, the bird itself can become almost incidental. A good sporting day should surely be remembered for the quality of the birds, the challenge they presented, the company and the experience – not simply because someone managed to produce a larger number on the tally sheet.

A pricked bird and the second barrel

More concerning still is what happens when a bird is pricked. A shotgun has two barrels: use them. I have seen Guns shoot a bird with the first barrel, clearly not kill it cleanly, and then hesitate to use the second. The second barrel somehow feels like an admission of failure. It isn’t. It is precisely what the second barrel is there for.

If a bird has been hit but not killed, the priority should be to despatch it as quickly and humanely as possible, provided it is safe and appropriate to take the follow-up shot. There is nothing admirable about allowing wounded quarry to escape simply because the shooter is determined to convince themselves that their first shot was better than it really was.

And there is another piece of etiquette here that should never need explaining. If a pricked bird comes down near you or your loader, and it is clearly injured and alive, it should not be left on the ground jumping about while everyone waits for somebody else to deal with it.

If it is safe for you to do so, deal with it. The bird doesn’t know whose cartridge caused the problem. It simply knows that it is injured. Responsibility for quarry should never become a game of passing the buck.

Good shooting requires something rather unfashionable these days: honesty. Know when you have missed. Know when you have hit. And, most importantly, know when you haven’t killed cleanly.

Modern guns are remarkable pieces of engineering. They are beautifully made, efficient, reliable, and capable of putting a cartridge exactly where the shooter intends. But none of that clever engineering comes with a built-in etiquette module. The gun may be modern. The manners need not be.

Wait your turn

There are other little things worth remembering, too. Waiting your turn. Not swinging and shooting wildly across neighbouring Guns. Being aware of where everyone else is. Listening to the keeper. Picking up what you have shot. Thanking the people who have spent time making the day possible. Congratulating someone else’s good shot without immediately explaining why you could have done it better.

Then there is the running commentary. “Got him!” “Did you see that?” “I knew I was going to get that one!” Yes, we did see it. We were standing a few yards away.

There is nothing inherently wrong with enjoying oneself. Shooting should be enjoyable. But enjoyment and exuberance are not necessarily the same thing.

The old etiquette was never about pretending not to be pleased. It was about recognising that a day in the field involved more than the individual holding the gun. There was the quarry, the keeper, the beaters, the pickers-up, the landowner and the other Guns. Everyone had a part to play.

Perhaps, then, modern shooters don’t need to rediscover some mythical golden age of perfect manners. We simply need to remember that sporting behaviour is part of the sport. By all means celebrate a fine shot. Smile. Shake hands. Enjoy it. But if the first barrel only pricks the bird, forget the whooping, forget the audience, and forget the next bird for a moment. Use the second barrel if it is safe and necessary. Make sure the first bird is dealt with properly.

Because ultimately, the measure of a sporting Gun shouldn’t be how many birds they can put on the game cart. It should be how responsibly they treat every bird they shoot. And, perhaps, how respectfully they can do it.

Jean-Paul Gaudin is one of the UK’s most accomplished game Shots and recognised voices in the industry, showcasing the sport through his Seated Gun brand.